The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 8 September.
Evidence ID
E04945
Type of Evidence
Liturgical texts - Calendars and martyrologies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Martyrologium Hieronymianum
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum is preserved in a number of early manuscripts which share much in common, but also diverge, making it impossible to reconstruct from them a single authoritative text. Below, we therefore offer separate English translations of each important early manuscript. By clicking 'Latin Text' (above), you can view these different versions in their original Latin, set side-by-side for ease of comparison, with also the editions and interpretations of the text suggested by the scholars Quentin and Delehaye. For a full discussion of the Martyrologium, click 'Discussion/Bibliography.'
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum commemorates on 8 September the following feasts:
The Nativity of *Mary, Mother of Christ, (S00033),
Perhaps *Timotheos, martyr of Antioch, and companion of Maximos, (S01000),
*Phaustos, Ammonios and their twenty companions, probably Phaustos, presbyter and martyr of Alexandria, and companions, S00299),
Possibly *Other saints, on 10 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caesarea, Alexandria, and Africa (S03005),
Possibly *Serapiōn, presbyter and martyr, (S01080),
Possibly *Serapiōn, martyr of Egypt, (S00154),
Possibly *Theophilos, Decian martyr of Egypt, (S00236),
Possibly *Nemesiōn, Decian martyr of Egypt, (S00231),
Possibly *Isidoros, martyr of Egypt under Decius, (S00229),
Possibly *Metras, martyr of Alexandria, (S00045),
Possibly *Adrianos, martyr of Nicomedia, (S01342).
BnF 10837:
'On the sixth day before the Ides of September, in Antioch, the feast of Timotheus.
In Alexandria, [the feast of] Ammonus and thirty others, Faustus, Serapio, Pius, also, Pius, Theofilus, Neotherus, and 22 others, Nemesus, Arionus, Ammonus, Petrinus, Sevinus, Demeter, and 40 others, Dudinus, Mitosorus, Panemotus, Achila, Isidorus, Serapio, Migitia, Oroseus, Silvinus, Orobio, and 122 others, Metrus, Severus, with 12 others.'
Bern 289:
'On the sixth day before the Ides of September, the Nativity of Maria, mother of the Lord.
In Antioch, [the feast of] Timotheus, Faustus.
In Alexandria, [the feast of] Ammonus, Faustus, Serapio, Pius, also, Pius, Theofilus, Neotherus, and 22 others, Nemmesus, Arionus, Ammonus, Petrus, Savinus, Demeter, with 40 others, Didimus, Mitisorus, Paneus, Achilla, Hysidorus, Serapio, Migeta, Oroseus, Silvianus, Arapio, and 462 others, Metrus, Severus, with 11 others, also, Severus, with 40 others.
In the same day, in Cessarea of Cappadocia and the entire territory in Damascus, the relics of many saints.'
Weissenburg 81:
'On the sixth day before the Ides of September, the Nativity of Maria, the mother of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In Antioch, the feast of Thimotheus, Faustus.
In Alexandria, the feast of Ammonus, Serapio, Pius, Theofolus, Neotherus, and 22 others, Nemesus, Arionus. The passion of Petrus, Savinus, Demeter, with 40 others, Didimus, Mitisorus, Panetus, Achilla, Hisidorus, Migita, Oruseus, Silvanus, Aropio, and 806 others, Severus, with 11 others, also, Severus with 40 others.
In the same day, the bodies of many martyrs are collected.
The feast of Adrianus.'
Quentin
Delehaye
Translation and comments: M. Vukovic
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Source
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum ('Martyrology of Jerome'), is the oldest extensive martyrology of the Latin West, listing the feast days of the saints for the entire calendar year, generally also specifying where their feasts are held (which is normally their place of burial). It derives its name from prefatory letters copied at the start of the martyrology, which attribute the text to the Church Father, Jerome of Stridon (ob. 420). These letters are present in all the earliest manuscripts, but it is uncertain when they were first attached to the text. The Hieronymianum is the primary source of all later martyrologies of the Latin world.It is universally accepted that the attribution to Jerome, intended to give the text greater authority, is false, and the predominant scholarly view is that the first version of the martyrology was compiled in northern Italy during the 5th century (probably in Aquileia), though no manuscript of this Aquileian redaction has survived. The text was then evidently revised and added to in Gaul, probably in Burgundy, around AD 600. The north Italian origin of the text, and its Gallic revision, are deduced from the presence in the martyrology of saints from northern Italy, and then of saints from Frankish Gaul. This Gallic version (sometimes referred to as the recensio gallica), just like its north Italian predecessor, does not survive in its original form in any manuscript (Lifshitz 2006, 14).
At some point in the 7th century, and no later than the early 8th, the Martyrologium reached Northumbria (in northern Britain), where it underwent some further revision and additions (Lapidge 2005, 45-46). From Northumbria, the text returned to the continent in the 8th century, and it is here that the earliest surviving manuscript copies were made, as listed below (Lapidge 2005, 73).
Some of the sources that were used by the compilers of the Martyrologium in northern Italy, and subsequently in Gaul, can be identified: the so-called Chronography of 354, a mid-4th-century list from Rome of saintly commemorations, primarily of local martyrs (E010151 and E01052); a lost Greek martyrology compiled at Nicomedia around 360 (drawn basically from Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History and Martyrs of Palestine), which was also a prime source for the Syriac Martyrology of 411 (E00465); the African Calendar of Carthage of 505/535 (E02195 - E02205); and early local calendars from Aquileia and Auxerre (Lifshitz 2006, 20).
The four earliest manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum (three of them complete, one a fragment), on which all editions, including our own, are based, are all from eastern Francia and were copied in the eighth and early ninth centuries. They are as follows:
Ms Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), lat. 10837
Written in the abbey of Echternach (in present-day Luxembourg) by a single scribe, Laurentius, between 703 and 710 (Lifshitz 2006, 32). The Catalogue of the BnF, which publishes BnF lat. 10837 on-line, also provides brief information about the dating: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b6001113z/f22.image (click Information). The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 2r-32v.
Ms Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Weissenburg 81
From the abbey of Weissenburg in Alsace. Dated to around 800 by the Wolfenbüttel on-line catalogue: http://diglib.hab.de/?db=mss&list=ms&id=81-weiss&lang=en. Lifshitz argues that the manuscript dates from around 772, and was written in the Carolingian royal sphere, in or around Maastrict (Lifshitz 2006, 4). The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 7r-103r.
Ms Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Bongars 289
From the abbey of Saint-Avold, near Metz. De Rossi and Duchesne, in the introduction to their edition, argue that Bern 289 must have been written after 766. The text of the Hieronymianum is at fol. 53v-129v. This manuscript is not yet available on line, but we have been able to check it through a microfilm.
Ms Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 238
From the abbey of Lorsch, near Worms. The manuscript contains only a fragment (five pages) of the Hieronymianum, covering 25 December to 3 January, and 27 January to 31 January, written in Lorsch in the first half of the 9th century: http://bibliotheca-laureshamensis-digital.de/bav/bav_pal_lat_238). The fragment is at fol. 74-75, 1-2.
The standard edition of 1894, by G. B. de Rossi and L. Duchesne, published these four manuscripts in parallel columns. In 1931, H. Quentin produced a new edition, with a commentary by H. Delehaye, which attempted to collate the different manuscript readings into a single text.
Even though all the early manuscripts are believed to descend from the same redaction, they are by no means identical. In particular, BnF lat. 10837, the earliest of all, often contains a text which differs markedly from Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81, which are much closer to each other. Because the text varies between manuscripts, in content as well as spelling, it is now universally agreed that it will never be possible to create an 'authoritative' single text of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. De Rossi and Duchesne in 1894, facing the same problem, decided to print for each day of the year the text of all four early manuscripts, in four columns, and we have followed their lead. Our edition is essentially based on their edition, though we have checked their readings against the manuscripts, and corrected or removed some letters, words, diacritical marks, and comments introduced by the editors that do not exist in the manuscripts. We have then added three more columns: for Quentin’s text for the feast day, which sometimes comes in one version, sometimes in two, and for Delehaye’s reconstruction of much of the text, drawn from his Commentary. Delehaye's erudition was, and remains, unmatched, and we have leaned heavily on his commentary (which is in Latin), but it should be noted that his reconstructed text often departs markedly from the manuscripts. Using his extraordinary knowledge of the saints and their hagiography, he felt able to combine different parts of the Hieronymianum's text, and to correct garbled versions of names, to produce a more coherent 'original'. We consider each of his principal suggestions in our Discussion (below), and attempt a judgment as to how plausible they are. In Delehaye's extensive notes there are also other, more tentative, suggestions, which we have not discussed systematically.
The reason the Martyrologium Hieronymianum is such a difficult text is because it consists primarily of long lists of names (with no punctuation and no consistency in the use of capital letters), which were often unfamiliar to copyists and so easily garbled. Generally, we cannot get behind these garbled variants, but occasionally we can, allowing us to shed light on how the text evolved into its current, often confused, state. For instance, an entry for 9 March (E04711) probably originally read something like 'In Armenia minore Sebastia milit(um) XL', 'In Lesser Armenia, at Sebasteia, [the feast of] the Forty Soldiers' - in other words a commemoration of the 'Forty Martyrs of Sebaste' (S00103), prominent saints in the East, but less well-known in the Latin West. In one of our manuscripts (Weissenburg 81) this has become 'In arminia minore sabastiani et milia XL', 'In Lesser Armenia, [the feast of] Sebastianus and the forty-thousand'; somewhere in the process of transmission, the city of Sebasteia has become the martyr Sebastianus, and the 'soldiers' (militum) have become 'thousands' (milia).
Discussion
The date of 8 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, according to the earliest manuscripts, opens with the commemoration of the Nativity of *Mary, (Mother of Christ, S00033). This commemoration is registered in the manuscripts Bern 289 and Weissenburg 81.Further, the manuscripts record on this date the saints Timotheus/Thimotheus and Faustus in Antioch. Delehaye is not sure who this saint was. He introduces a lengthy discussion related to him. In conclusion, he suggests that he is the same saint which is commemorated on 8 April (E01471, E04764), *Timotheos, (martyr of Antioch, and companion of Maximos, S01000).
Delehaye considers that Faustus is, in fact, commemorated in Alexandria. He may be, according to his interpretation, *Phaustos/Faustus, (presbyter and martyr of Alexandria, S00299). This saint has the same feast day in the Syriac Martyrology (E01548).
A number of other saints are commemorated in Alexandria on this date: Ammonus, Serapio, Pius, Theofilus/Theofolus, Neotherus, Nemesus/Nemmesus, Arionus, Petrinus/Petrus, Sevinus/Savinus, Demeter, Dudinus/Didimus, Mitosorus/Mitisorus, Panemotus/Paneus/Panetus, Achila/Achilla, Isidorus/Hysidorus/Hisidorus, Serapio, Migitia/Migeta/Migita, Oroseus/Oruseus, Silvinus/Silvianus/Silvanus, Orobio/Arapio/Aropio, Metrus, and Severus. Many of them have typically Egyptian names. Delehaye mentions several optional identifications in connection to them, for example, *37 martyrs of Alexandria, (S01913), who are commemorated on 31 January (E04630) (Delehaye mentions 9 February in connection to them, and BHL 6584). Many are mentioned among *Other saints, on 10 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caesarea, Alexandria, and Africa (S03005): Arionus, Dudinus/Didimus, Mitosorus/Mitisorus, Panemotus/Paneus/Panetus, Achila/Achilla, Oroseus/Oruseus, Silvinus/Silvianus/Silvanus, and Orobio/Arapio/Aropio.
Interestingly, Faustus, who is identified above, in the Syriac Martyrology (E01548) is registered with a number of other saints as *Phaustos, Ammonios and their twenty companions (probably Phaustos, presbyter and martyr of Alexandria, and companions, S00299). We consider all the otherwise unidentified saints commemorated in Alexandria to belong here: Pius, Neotherus, Sevinus/Savinus, Demeter, Migitia/Migeta/Migita, Petrinus/Petrus, and Severus.
Delehaye tries to identify Serapio, mentioned above, as the saint who is commemorated on 14 September in the Syriac Martyrology, *Serapiōn (presbyter and martyr, S01080). We consider this identification possible. However, Delehaye also mentions Eusebius of Caesarea, who, in his Ecclesiastical History (6.41-42), quotes a letter in Greek by Dionysios, bishop of Alexandria (Egypt), and informs Phabios, bishop of Antioch (Syria), about martyrdoms in Egypt during the Decian persecution. A number of saints in the record E00277 have the same names as here. According to it, Serapio could be *Serapiōn, (martyr of Egypt, S00154).
The saint Theofilus/Theofolus could also be among the saints from the above mentioned Eusebuis´ writing, E00277, *Theophilos, (Decian martyr of Egypt, S00236).
In connection to Nemesus/Nemmesus, Delehaye mentions the record on 10 September (E04947). We have recorded *Nemesios and companions, (martyrs, S01078) on this date. Considering that these saints are commemorated in Rome, we find this identification unlikely. More realistic would be to identify Nemesus/Nemmesus as one of the saints mentioned in Eusebius´ record mentioned above, *Nemesiōn, (Decian martyr of Egypt, S00231).
Isidorus/Hysidorus/Hisidorus is also mentioned among the saints by Eusebius, as *Isidoros, (martyr of Egypt under Decius, S00229), and Metrus is possibly *Metras, (martyr of Alexandria, S00045).
As for the commemoration in Cessarea in Cappadocia, Delehaye provides the names of the commemorated saints, which are, in fact, not mentioned in the early manuscripts. He considers that these saints may be *Eupsychios, and companions, (martyrs of Kaisareia/Caesarea of Cappadocia, S00470). We consider this identification unlikely.
Finally, the manuscript Weissenburg 81 records the commemoration of *Adrianos, (martyr of Nicomedia, S01342).This identification is based on Delehaye´s mention of 4 March in connection to this saint ($E04706).
Bibliography
Editions:De Rossi, G. B., and Duchesne, L., Martyrologium Hieronymianum ad finem codicum adiectis prolegomenis. Acta Sanctorum Nov.II.1 (Brussels, 1894).
Quentin, H. and Delehaye, H., Acta Sanctorum Nov.II.2 (Brussels, 1931).
On the Martyrologium Hieronymianum:
Duchesne, L., "A propos du martyrologe hiéronymien," Analecta Bollandiana 17 (1898), 421-447.
Lapidge, M., The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018).
Lapidge, M., "Acca of Hexham and the Origin of the Old English Martyrology," Analecta Bollandiana 123 (2005), 29-78.
Lifshitz, F., The Name of the Saint. The Martyrology of Jerome and Access to the Sacred in Francia, 627-827 (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006).
Ó Riain, P., "A Northumbrian Phase in the Formation of the Hieronymian Martyrology. The Evidence of the Martyrology of Tallaght," Analecta Bollandiana 120 (2002), 311-363.
On the manuscripts of the Martyrologium Hieronymianum:
Butzmann, H., Die Weissenburger Handschriften (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1964), 242-243.
Muller, J. C., "Trois manuscrits liturgiques de l'abbaye d'Echternach à Paris," in Abteistadt Echternach, éd. P. Schritz, A. Hoffmann (Luxembourg, 1981), 202-206.
Ó Cróinín, D., "Rath Melsigi, Willibrord, and the Earliest Echternach Manuscripts," Peritia 3 (1984), 17-49.
Libaert, P., "Notice sur 43 manuscrits d'Echternach conservés à la bibliothèque nationale de Paris," Hémecht 1 (1985), 53-73.
McKitterick, R., Books, Scribes and Learning in the Frankish Kingdoms, Sixth-Ninth Centuries (Aldershot: Variorum, 1994).
On saints and calendars:
Farmer, D. H., Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978).
Nilles, N., Kalendarium Manuale utriusque Ecclesiae Orientalis et Occidentalis I-II (Farnborough: Gregg International Publishers Ltd, 1971).
Watkins, B., The Book of Saints: A Comprehensive Biographical Dictionary (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2015).
Datum Table
| BnF 10837 | Bern 289 | Weissenburg 81 | BAV 238 | Other Mss | Quentin | Quentin | Delehaye |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UI ID. SEPT. NATIUITAS SCÆ. Marie. matris dñi | UI ID. SEP. Natiuitas sc̃ae mariȩ matris dñi nr̃i ihū xp̃i | Nativitas sanctae Mariae matris Domini. | Nativitas sanctae Mariae Matris Domini. | ||||
| VI iđ antioc̃ nat̃ timothei | IN ANTIOCHIA Timothei. Fausti. | In antiocia nł sc̃orum thimothei fausti | in Antiochia Timothei. | in Antiochia Timothei. | in Antiochia Timothei. | ||
| in alãx ammoni et alio℞ XXX fausti serapionis pii it̃ pii theofili neotheri et aliorum XXII nemesi arioni ammoni petrini sevini demetri et alio℞ XL dudini mitosori panemoti achilae isidori serapionis migitiae orosei silvini orobionis et alio℞ CXXII metri severi cū alis XII | IN ALEXANDR. Ammoni. Fausti. Serapionis. Pii. It. Pii. Theofili. Neotheri. et aliorum XXII. Nemmesi. Arioni. Ammoni. Petri. Sauini. Demetri. cum aliis XL. Didimi. Mitisori. Panei. Achille. Hysidori. Serapionis. Migete Orosei. Siluiani. Arapionis. et aliorum quingento rū sexaginta duor̃ Metri. Seueri. cum aliis. XI. It. Seueri. cum aliis. XL. | In alexađ nat̃ sc̃orum ammoni serapionis pii. theofoli neotheri et aliorum XXII nemesi arioni pas̃ sc̃i petri sauini demetri cum aliis XL didimi mitisori paneti achillae hisidori migitȩ orusei Silvani aropionis. et aliorum DCCCVI Severi cum aliis. XI. Item severi cum aliis XL | in Alexandria Ammoni Fausti Serapionis Pii item Pii Theofili Neotheri et aliorum XXII Nemesi Arioni Ammoni Petrini Sevini Demetri et aliorum XL Didimi Mitosori Panemoti Achilae Isidori Serapionis Migitiae Orosei Silvini Orobionis et aliorum CXXII Metri Severi cum aliis XII item Severi cum aliis XL. | in Alexandria Ammoni Fausti Serapionis Pii item Pii Theofili Neotheri et aliorum XXII Nemesi Arioni Ammoni Petrini Sevini Demetri et aliorum XL Didimi Mitosori Panemoti Achilae Isidori Serapionis Migitiae Orosei Silvini Orobionis et aliorum DLXII Metri Severi cum aliis XI item Severi cum aliis XL. | in Alexandria Ammonii Fausti. | ||
| IN EADEM DIE collectio ceserea cappadocie. et totius terreturii IN DAMASCO. multorum martyrum corporū | In ea die collecti. multorum martyrum corpora. | in eadem die collectio Cesarea Cappadociae et totius territurii. in Damasco multorum martyrum corporum. | in eadem die collectio Cesarea Cappadociae et totius territurii. in Damasco multorum martyrum corporum. | in eadem die Caesarea Cappadociae 〈Eupsichii〉 Dama et multorum martyrum collectio totius territorii. | |||
| Nat sci adriani | |||||||
Record Created By
Marijana Vukovic
Date of Entry
24/06/2022
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00033 | Mary, Mother of Christ | Maria | Certain | S00045 | Metras, martyr of Alexandria | Metrus | Uncertain | S00154 | Serapiōn, martyr of Egypt | Serapio | Uncertain | S00229 | Isidoros, martyr of Egypt under Decius | Isidorus/Hysidorus/Hisidorus | Uncertain | S00231 | Nemesiōn, Decian martyr of Egypt | Nemesus/Nemmesus | Uncertain | S00236 | Theophilos, Decian martyr of Egypt | Theofilus/Theofolus | Uncertain | S00299 | Phaustos/Faustus, presbyter and martyr of Alexandria | Faustus; Ammonus; Pius; Neotherus; Sevinus/Savinus; Demeter; Migitia/Migeta/Migita; Severus; Petrinus/Petrus | Certain | S01000 | Timotheos and Maxima/Maximos, martyrs of Antioch | Timotheus/Thimotheus | Uncertain | S01080 | Serapiōn, presbyter and martyr | Serapio | Uncertain | S01342 | Adrianos, martyr of Nicomedia, and Natalia, his pious wife | Adrianus | Uncertain | S03005 | Other saints, on 10 September in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum: in Caesarea, Alexandria, and Africa | Arionus, Dudinus/Didimus, Mitosorus/Mitisorus, Panemotus/Paneus/Panetus, Achila/Achilla, Oroseus/Oruseus, Silvinus/Silvianus/Silvanus, Orobio/Arapio/Aropio | Uncertain |
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